Catch a Falling Star
by Risika Aki
Summary: The night of the poltergeist hunt, Anita and Junior went stargazing, Tooru confessed to Hisame, and now, all grown up, these kids have to come to terms with what they want to happenwithout leaving it to shooting stars or fate. AnitaXJunior, TooruXHisame
1. Chapter 1

**Catch a Falling Star**

**Author's Note**: Ora! Hello to everyone! This is my first time writing a serious love story so do cut me some slack if you could….anyway, I hope you guys like it. I've always thought there was a strong chemistry between Anita and Junior, I only hope I can capture it here. Do leave a review, it will be very much appreciated.

**CHAPTER 1**

Anita King, eighteen years old, and in her third year of high school, had her eyes closed and her back leaned against the cold steel bars of the rooftop railing at their school. There was a soft humming sound as the cool wind brushed against her soft pink hair in a lazy caress. The sky was filled with fluffy white clouds tinged with grey, and the faint smell of wet leaves and winter was flagrant in the air. Flower petals, cherry blossoms, and leaves in hues of red and gold were swept into mid-air and danced pirouettes against the sky. A view such as this would inspire anyone into deep thought or reflection however, it was otherwise for Anita as she dozed in the background of this serene scene…her deep even breathing matching each whisper of wind.

The atmosphere had made her drowsy, her eyelids fluttered over her turquoise colored eyes and her neck stretched sideways in a way that almost let her face rest on her own shoulder. Her school bag looked like a discarded box at a short distance away from her dozing body while a finger pressed between the pages of a book in her hand. Even the school bell which rang loudly for the end of last period hardly served to disturb her in her sleep.

Somewhere in the school courtyard, teenagers had started to make way for the gate and for home. Some of the athletes began practice in some of the courts, their enthusiastic cries or shouts carried in the wind along with the voices of young girls as they chattered under the cherry blossom trees in the courtyard before clubs or going home.

The door to the rooftop creaked as it opened, and the small modest figure of Hisame Shishin emerged from the doorway. She smiled as she saw the sleeping Anita looking so peaceful and undisturbed, it almost seemed a shame for her to try and wake her best friend. So even when her purpose was to wake her, Hisame's steps towards Anita were soft and almost soundless.

At Anita's side, Hisame then pinned a lock of her friend's short pink hair and brushed it against the formers face in an attempt to wake her; first trailing it against the eyebrows, then the cheeks, and tickling her friend under the nose until she sneezed.

Hisame giggled as the still-drowsy Anita brushed a sleeve against her eyes and yawned.

"Konbanwa, Anita-chan," she greeted,

"Konbanwa," Anita smiled sleepily, yawning again for emphasis and brushing back the pink locks from her face as she stretched her arms into the air and purred like a cat.

"You missed the afternoon…" Hisame reprimanded, "I thought perhaps something might have happened to you."

"Gomen, Hisa-chan…I didn't feel like listening to Math problems this afternoon, I would have invited you here but it didn't seem fair if you failed because of me." Anita grinned amicably, "But I didn't miss anything significant, did I?"

"Hmm…" Hisame murmured thoughtfully as she took a sit beside her friend and folded her skirt neatly under her legs. "Some assignments, they seem pretty hard—especially the translations for Shakespeare, I felt pretty bad at the thought that if I don't hand in good homework without justice to his work, the great poet would turn in his grave" She said emphatically, "Also, Bakaida-sensei asked about you…his forehead crinkled up like dried meat when he saw your empty seat. He asked me of your absence, I wasn't able to say anything though; I'm no good at making excuses. "

Anita grinned, "You're such a good writer, but you're no good at lies."

The other girl thanked for the compliment but flushed at the bit on her bad lying skills before she continued with her narrative,

"And oh…Anita-chan, we have a foreign classmate that came this afternoon, he disappeared before classes ended though. I doubt he speaks Japanese, he hardly spoke a word, maybe we should review our English so we could talk to him?"

"Ohhh" Anita leaned her chin thoughtfully on her knuckles as she looked at her friend, watching the expressions on her soft round face. Hisame Shishin had grown into a pretty young woman, but still retained the appearance and demeanor of a very shy introverted young girl. Despite being eighteen years old, her long thick black hair was still braided into two neat braids on either side of her face, and her soft child-like voice hardly changed in the years since they met in freshmen year of junior high.

Hisame told her stories as would a story-teller and with her gift, she had started to write novels which she hoped would be sold to a publisher before she finished high school. As Anita listened to her friend tell her of the day's events, she noticed the curious light in the girl's eyes when she spoke of the new transfer student. A bright spark of mixed interest and curiosity filled Hisame's somber grey eyes when she spoke of him, an expression enough to likewise inject the same curiosity in her friend.

"He seems like a nice guy, Anita-chan." Hisame expressed.

"You seem very interested, do you fancy him that quickly just after meeting him?" Anita joked good-naturedly.

"Don't be silly Anita-chan," her friend flushed, her cool hands quickly rushing to her face to hide the warmth in her cheeks from Anita, "Its just that…"

"What?"

Hisame smiled, "He reminded me of you when you first came in," she said shyly.

"Ohhh" Anita murmured thoughtfully, "Did I seem that timid?"

"No Anita, not timid" Hisame felt a finger to her lips and her eyes to the sky as she thought of the right description, "He didn't seem at all like a timid or shy person, he felt more like a quiet strength—much like the way you do."

Anita gave a casual grin, "You really should be a writer Hisa-chan, you have a way with compliments."

Hisame giggled, "Enough with your jokes, let's go Anita-chan, I still have library club to go to."

"You go ahead. I'll stay around here for a while."

"Are you sure? I could keep you company for a while longer."

"No, thank you though; I'll see you at the library."

Anita watched Hisame until the latter closed the door to the rooftop and she could no longer hear footsteps going down the staircase from where she stood. After, she casually picked up her school bag and stared at the scenery over the school—its grounds filled with club athletes and cliques in small groups under the cherry blossom petals rustling in the wind.

In the silent space of the rooftop, Anita could feel another presence watching her. A sudden cold blast of air rushed at her, making her pink hair and her fall uniform billow in the wind as she turned towards the sloping concrete square over the door to the rooftop.

"How long have you been there?" she asked, a small smile threatening to play upon her lips reserved for those who knew her with familiarity.

"Not too long…" came the answer. After which, a tall lean figure with his back to Anita, sat up from where he had been lying, invisible to both Hisame and her for the better part of their conversation earlier.

"No one noticed me, so I didn't bother showing myself or offer to leave." He explained as he turned his face to Anita, his curious questioning gaze was both haunting and entrancing, "Did I hear something I shouldn't have?"

Anita walked briskly and climbed up to the spot where he sat waiting for her. He was still until she was at his side, and when he stood to meet her gaze, they found themselves observing each other silently. Each one assessing the changes five years had made on the other—

He noticed her green eyes had become darker, with a deepened shade that indicated a sharp intelligence and a strong spirit. Her hair, though short, was thick and curled at the nape of her neck and her lips, though chapped with cold, still had an enticing rosy tint.

Anita noticed some things about him too. His straight blue hair was shorter and reached only until his shoulders, his once blank eyes now held a look of assurance and independence that had not been there before. His body had grown tall and lean, stretching what muscles he had when he was younger and made them less discernible, yet he carried himself in a way that spoke of skill and perfect control of his body and strength.

As the cool autumn wind bridged the space between them, Anita smiled at him for the first time in the five years they had not seen each other, a smile that he had almost forgotten. Her hands reached out to hold his face between them like she had always done when they were younger and when she told him he had a 'pretty' face.

"You look different now…" she grinned, "Hello…Junior-kun,"

Junior could only manage a small awkward smile, but his eyes held warmth in them to make up for what he still lacked to express.

**TO BE CONTINUED…**

**END NOTE: **I hope you liked it, do leave a review if you can. Domo Arigatou Gozaimasu!


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Notes: Hello Everyone

_**Author's Notes**_**: **_Hello Everyone! First off, thanks so much for reading and the reviews I've received, I've recently had time to write so here's the installment to my fic, I'm intending to finish this if things go well in school and I have more free time on my hands, LOL Enjoy! _

**Chapter II**

_Dark Blue Skies of Night_

"Junior-kun?" Nenene Sumiregawa's face brightened with sudden interest, "I thought he was supposed to come in a week…I didn't expect he'd be early,"

"You knew? Why didn't you tell me?" Anita demanded, her voice betrayed blunt disappointment—an annoyance she felt over the writer's absentmindedness.

"Didn't he tell you when Nancy called?" Nenene absently flicked back the stray bangs that fell over her thick dark rimmed glasses. She had a vacant air about her, with her eyes looking past the frills of her hair, her glasses, and to the ceiling—Anita guessed the writer was on her way to developing yet another plot for her novels.

Anita sighed, there was no use getting a decent answer when her writer/beneficiary was in her meditative state; she made a mental note to tell Hisame—she'd be elated to hear another novel would be coming out soon.

Quietly, Anita slipped away from the writer—already pulling sheets of paper from nearby stacks, scribbling lines and arrows for developing her plots.

Slinging a bath towel over her shoulders, Anita decided on a long shower. The cool spray of water, scent and lather of soap soothed an inkling tension in each corpuscle of muscle. In the main bathroom, the door was fogged with steam from a tub of warm running water, waiting for her to soak away a sense of unease.

As she immersed herself in the bath water, she reflected…watching the mists swirl above her head in faint white wisps and circles—there was something mildly disconcerting with Junior's return, perhaps she had not expected it.

She peeked the evening sky dotted with stars through the small window high on their bathroom wall. Anita managed to see the larger stars—planets if they were, blinking in the dark sky. The mists from her bath swirled aimlessly about like a screen for the memory playing in her head, when she and Junior were barely older than children, lying on the school grounds watching the skyscape while others were stalking for the library poltergeist.

The blue haired, crimson-eyed young boy had been interesting. A strange boy who didn't seem to belong in the setting, she had never mistaken him to be a student. He seemed more like a stranger who came to visit for idle conversation—listening intently, and then forgetting immediately. He had been a shadow, an ever present friend she had to herself. Yet always, It never seemed like he was ever focused on her fully, maybe a few minutes or half an hour, he would seem to be so…but always, he'd look distanced and would slowly fade away

"Like he does" Anita thought aloud. Did he change so much? Or has he always been so distanced both from her and the rest of the world? The delicate young boy she had always kept to herself, her secret friend was now a part of her school, relating with others, known by everyone.

Anita could not remember a time she and Junior had decent conversation since he left, they had never spoken more than a few words to each other on the phone…and during those times, Anita had been the lead of the conversation while Junior had only been content enough to simply listen. It was contenting, yet somehow—

Anita felt a slow moving spasm in her throat, like cold air moving slowly spreading and breaking through her chest,

_**It felt hollow.**_

Anita continued to watch the swirls of steam slowly fade as the water cooled from the autumn cold permeating the walls; she had already begun to doze off. She slowly stood and perched herself on the bathtub, taking a towel and drying her hair.

Mi-nee and Ma-nee had likely arrived home, Michelle's aimless chatter and the heavy thud of what was likely a hundred new books was audible even from the second floor. Anita sighed and decided to escape inquiry—Nenene would likely have told the two of her meeting with Junior, and they'd never let her rest with their teasing.

Anita tucked herself into bed, took her phone from its cradle and scrolled down her contacts, eyeing Junior's name on the list before hesitating, and setting the phone down to her bedside. Turning the lights down, she stared at the ceiling,

"You're always alone aren't you?" Anita asked absently, closing her eyes and remembering the dark blue sky and the boy who stood under it.

Someplace on the school grounds, on the rooftop of the old junior high building, Junior watched the skylight with melancholy, and in his head, a sweet childlike voice whispered kindly to him,

"_You're always alone aren't you? Don't you have any friends?" _came the voice, kind and welcoming, "_We're going to catch a poltergeist…you wanna join us?"_

"Hai" Junior's lips twitched slightly in a small smile of memory, "Anita…san,"


End file.
